Thread by @ideafaktory

I was a huge radio fan growing up. Listened to Howard Stern, sports talk (WFAN), liberal (Lynn Samuels, Alan Colms), conservative (Bob Grant), crappy sex talk (Dr. Ruth) hosts. Even tried catching far away stations late at night.

I first heard Rush Limbaugh in college.

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A friend from NYU made me Rush cassettes, hoping for a conversion.

Unlike cranky local NY conservative Bob Grant, Rush was a showman. He had the flair of a preacher. Not hard to see why he attracted evangelicals.

Unlike preachers, there was no feigned piety or niceness.

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Rush was more menacing, with a thin veil of what he considered humor, like bad puns ("Feminazis") or cliche jokes about Chinese or blacks.

Having listened to Howard & watched standup on TV, I was not amused. Nor did I care about his targets. Back then, life wasn't politics.

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It was a short flirtation with Rush. Maybe 20 hours or so, total. But it made me realize why conservative radio worked and liberal radio never did: moral clarity.

Rush was unambiguous about what was good/evil, right/wrong. He had clear enemies and went after them HARD.

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Rush's style had a distinct advantage over his liberal also-rans. They were ok with ambiguity, many were wishy-washy, and often they entertained nuance, which was toxic on radio. Most nuance is BORING.

(I explain this in more detail here: quora.com/Why-have-conse…)

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I was not the only one to notice. Rush's odd 11am popularity in national syndication inspired not only Fox News, but all political performance art.

Opinions were entertainment. No one cared about the societal ramifications. This was about personality & ratings.

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The good news for the left is they've finally caught up. Theyb finally have as many bloviating, nuance-free performance artists as the right.

Both are creators and products of a dangerously divided country.

Rush Limbaugh, you influenced. You really did.

And here we are.

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